The Detail
Publisher: Canongate Books
Publication Date: 1st September 2020
Pages: 288
Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?”
A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time.
Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?
In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.
THE SUNDAY FEELING’S REVIEW
I have never read any of Matt’s Fiction before, but I have read and absolutely adore his Non Fiction work ‘Reasons To Stay Alive’ and ‘Notes On A Nervous Planet’, so I was hopeful id enjoy this too.
The plot follows Nora who sadly feels she has had enough of living, and decides to take her own life. This in itself is a pretty hard hitting factor in the book, but things take a strange yet interesting turn when Nora finds herself neither in life nor death, but somewhere in between. Nora wakes in the midnight library where she is greeted by her old school librarian whom she had a special bond with as a young girl.
Filled with books of Nora’s alternate lives, the library offers her the ability to choose a different life, rather than death. She can choose to enter a life had she made alternate choices, and once she finds true happiness that life will become her permanent life. However if she feels that same feeling of disappointment, she is transported back to the library to revaluate her choices, whether she likes it or not.
This was a book like no other I’ve read before, which could be down to it having that level of fantasy to it. It had an incredible message and taught me a lot about life and the choices we make, as well as the ones we sometimes wish we hadn’t. There was no doubt it was Matt’s writing. He has a very unique way with words and the subject matter was close to his heart so I think that definitely played a part. Parts of this book could honestly feel like a non fiction ‘self help’ book which in my opinion isn’t a bad thing.
I have heard a lot of good things about this book, but some have mentioned that it lacked the depth they were hoping for. Personally I thought it had just enough depth for what I was able to handle at the time, and having never really read any fantasy I dont feel as though anything was missing. However I have since heard it compared to The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by VE Schwab (which I have started and am excited to get back to) so if anyone loved The Midnight Library it might be worth Picking Addie LaRue up too?!
Thank you to Becky @Head_in_the_pages for gifting me a copy for my birthday in January.
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